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Compensation & Benefits

Reconciling rest periods and restrooms

12/01/2007

Q. We operate a labor-intensive factory that requires workers to remain at their stations throughout most of the workday. Is it legal to require workers to use their 10-minute rest period to use the restroom? …

Madison County settles in religious discrimination case

12/01/2007

An agnostic paramedic sued Madison County for religious discrimination after the county offered Christian counseling, held Christian prayer meetings in the workplace and allegedly terminated him because of his agnosticism …

MasTec to settle overtime suit

12/01/2007

Technology company MasTec has agreed to settle long-standing overtime suits involving some of its home installation employees. The complaints date back to 2001 and affect current and former employees in 10 states, including Georgia …

Best Buy hit with class-Action suit demanding back wages

12/01/2007

Jason Hall, of Malvern, who worked for two months in 2006 at the North Wales Best Buy store, has filed a suit over unpaid time spent by employees undergoing security searches and working through breaks …

‘Best Places to Work’ firm says state wants it shut down

12/01/2007

Bucks County contracting firm Worth & Co. says the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) has charged it with wage violations in an attempt to shut the company down because it is a nonunion shop. Worth won Pennsylvania’s “Best Places to Work Award” five years running, thanks to nominations from its employees …

Buying a business? You may be on hook for old violations

12/01/2007

Companies planning to take over existing businesses and continue running them as they were run in the past—watch out! If the former management didn’t pay its employees properly, your company may be inheriting legal liability as well as a new business …

South Jersey township settles age discrimination suit

12/01/2007

Washington Township in Gloucester County will pay $50,000 to a municipal worker to settle an age discrimination lawsuit that has been brewing for six years …

No time for WARN notice? You can continue paying instead

12/01/2007

Congress passed the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) to give employees time to adjust to an imminent plant shutdown and prepare for unemployment. Covered employers are required to give employees 60 days’ notice before shutting down operations. Good news: The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that not giving WARN notice is fine—as long as the company continues to pay …

After verdict flip-Flops, state wins pay restructuring case

12/01/2007

Madison State Hospital had a nursing shortage on its night shift. To solve the problem, the state of Indiana commissioned a compensation study that helped it decide to raise the wages it paid to night shift nurses. Karen Ferguson, a nursing supervisor, filed a complaint with the State Employees’ Appeals Commission (SEAC), claiming that in many cases night nurses earned more than nursing supervisors …

Religious accommodation and seniority

12/01/2007

Q. We are a nonunion plant that uses a seniority-based bidding system for work shifts. A recent hire has complained that due to his lack of seniority, he is consistently being scheduled to work on Saturday, which is his Sabbath. Do we have to accommodate his religion by honoring his request to never work on Saturdays? …